The 1940s

Abortion deaths really began to plummet during the 1940s because of the advent of antibiotics and blood transfusions.

Women's Stories from the 1940s	Explore More by Time Frame	All Deaths by Name
1940 Mary Ann Page , March 27, 1940 Age: 20 Dr. C. E. Trovillion, Alton, IL Goldie Crow, July 17, 1940 Age: 28 Lay abortionist Otto C. Lucy, Oklahoma City, OK 1941 Rose Smith, May 5, 1941 Age 23 Midwife Magdaline Motzny-Stegeman (?), Chicago, IL Emma Laisure, July 7, 1941 Age: 27 Dr. Nathaniel Schafner, Chicago, I Agnes Pearson, July 29, 1941 Age: 34 Dr. Nathan Schwartz or Dr. Samuel Schwartz (?), New York Helen Clark, September 16, 1941 Age: 23 Lay abortionist Sarah Howe, New York 1942 Marie O'Malley, January 10, 1942 Age 36 Dr. Emil Gleitsman, Chicago, IL Florence Schnoor February 14, 1942 Age: 24 Unidentified perpetrator, New Yor Cleo Moore, March 28, 1942 Age: 19 Dr. Frank F. Marino, New York (?) I**nez McGraw**, June 25, 1942 Age: 18 Former midwife Henrietta Henderson, Spartanburg, SC Eva Moyer, August 4, 1942 Age 18 Midwife Katheryn Eickenberg, Chicago, IL Harriet Lichtenberg, October 18, 1942 Age: 23 Dr. Henry Katz, Brooklyn Madlyon McGeehan, November 18, 1942 Age: 26 Dr. Joseph Nisonoff, New York, NY 1943 Lavern Perez, January 28, 1943 Age 22 Dr. Henry Gross, Chicago, IL Anna Roche, February 1, 1943 Age: 26 Unidentified perpetrator, Syracuse, NY Amelia Cardito, February 23, 1943 Age: 34 Dr. Anthony Renda, New York, NY Dorothy Webber, February 26, 1943 Age 20 Dr. Henry Gross, Chicago, IL Doris Morris, March 12, 1943 age 20 Midwife Jennie Sorel, Chicago, IL Ellen Haro, April 2, 1943 Age: 31 Unspecified female physician, Chicago, IL Anna Palanski, July, 1943 Age: 20 Midwife Elizabeth Tomeska, Chicago, IL Naomi Congdon, August 28, 1943 Age: 21 Maternity nurse Lena Griffin Smith, Oklahoma City, OK Mary Hosang, November 10, 1943 Age: 29 Unidentified perpetrator, Chicago, IL 1944 Geraldine Schuyler January 23, 1944 Age: 20 Former physician George Fosberg, Chicago, I Mildred Maddalone, July 26, 1944 Age 32 Unspecified perpetrator, Chicago, IL 1945 Beatrice Fisher March 6, 1945 Age: 36 Dr. Frank Hart, Seattle, W Beulah LeClair December 2, 1945 Age: 18 Dr. James Unowawa, Seattle, WA 1946 Helen Matta 1946 Dr. Henslee Tann, Detroit, M Mary Johnson March 19, 1946 Age: 29 Sanitarium operator Margaret Folsom, Seattle, W Patricia Dickinson August 11, 1946 Age: 18 Mechanic Theo Kilmer, Seattle, WA 1947 Kerneda Bennett January 28, 1947 Age: c. 30 Iva Coffman, profession undetermined, Richmond, V Ilene Eagen March 24, 1947 Age: 24 Dentist W. A. Groebner, Mankato, M Patricia Parish September 8, 1947 Age: 26 Abortiifacient obtained from undetermined source, Seattle, W Jane Ward October 28, 1947 Age: 22 Dr. Paul Singer, New York, NY 1948 Marian Blyth April 25, 1948 Age: 25 Dr. William C. Anderson, Pottawattamie County, IA Mildred Ferguson, February 25, 1948 Age: 23 Dr. William M. Lewis, Huntington, WV Doris Becker, December 2, 1948 Age: 21 Dr. Cyril Babb, Harlem, NY 1949 Roberta Danks February 17, 1949 Age: 28 Dr. Edward Rosenzweig, Chicago, IL Dorothy Martin, July 29, 1949 Age: 22 Lay abortionist P. D. Beigun, Georgia	* The Colonial Era The 19th Century The 1900s The 1910s The 1920s The 1930s The 1940s The 1950s The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 2000s The 2010s space space space space A question mark (?) after a person's name indicates that there can be some question of whether the person actually perpetrated the abortion. This would include cases in which a person died prior to trial, a case never made it to trial, a person won a new trial on appeal, or a person was acquitted but I have been unable to determine why. In many cases, an acquittal does not mean that the person did not perform the abortion. In some cases the jury might have decided that the abortion was actually performed legally and thus the woman's death was accident, not homicide.	A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O PQ R S T UV WXYZ Jane Roes